©2021 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

Economic Geology, v. XXX, no. XX, pp. X–X

Structural Controls on Alteration Stages at the

Chuquicamata Copper-Molybdenum Deposit, Northern Chile
Jorge Skarmeta†,*
Gerencia Corporativa de Exploraciones, Codelco-Chile, Huérfanos 1279 piso 8, Santiago, Chile

Abstract
All existing bench and tunnel vein and fault structural data with identified mineral infill, acquired in Chuquica-
mata, were georeferenced, digitized, and, according to their mineralogy, assigned to one or more of the major
alteration events developed between 35 and 31 Ma. Veins and faults were separated into two main stages: (1)
the late magmatic and potassic stage that comprises the background potassic and the propylitic alteration and
(2) the hydrothermal stage composed by early (intense potassic), main (principal and late sericite; hydrothermal
stages H1 through H4), and late (advanced argillic alteration) hydrothermal events. The spatial distribution of
the propylitic to late-hydrothermal events that plotted within the major fault framework indicate these had
either permeable or impermeable (±barrier) behavior through time. The area of the deposit was divided into
600 square grids measuring 100 × 100 m, and a stress orientation analysis was carried out for every propylitic
to late-hydrothermal alteration event. The analysis indicates that the local principal horizontal stress (sH) tra-
jectories are nonlinear and noncoaxial through the successive alteration events, differing from the previous and
following stages, and in the majority of cases do not coincide with the approximate east-northeast orientation
of the inferred tectonic far-field stress orientation. The differences between the stress trajectories, away from
the far-field stress orientation throughout the evolution of the system, are considered to be principally related
to the dynamic variations experienced by the stress components, such as thermal-magmatic stresses linked to
temperature fluctuations due to cooling or heating by progressive igneous/hydrothermal activity and/or elas-
tic, overburden-related stresses associated with reaccommodations developed during uplift and erosion. The
estimated stresses resulting after erosional unroofing and decreasing temperature indicate that the maximum
horizontal stress varied as the system evolved from the commonly accepted depth of emplacement of ~6 km.
During the late magmatic, background potassic, and intense potassic stages, the calculated differential stress
was contractional, decreasing to an isotropic state at the contraction-extension stress reversal that hosted the
main hydrothermal H1 through H3 events, to finally become extensional at the shallow late-hydrothermal
event. The most significant mineralization occurred at the time of stress reversal, coincidental with the seric-
ite and quartz-sericite events (H1-H4), associated with hydrothermal fluid accumulation, overpressuring, and
multiple-orientated hydraulic fracture development.
The Chuquicamata study suggests that the local stress control involved in the emplacement of porphyry
copper systems is fundamentally related to variable and progressive heat energy release, associated with igne-
ous and hydrothermal activity, and to the elastic stresses derived from uplift and unloading, rather than to a
constant far-field tectonic stress. The continuous local stress fluctuations led to bulk stress readjustments and
cyclical stress-fluid interactions for local fault reactivation, damage zone modification, brecciation, permeability
creation/destruction, and fluid focusing, as well as the discharge of hydrothermal fluids throughout the evolu-
tion of the system.

Introduction The Chuquicamata deposit has been exploited for over

The Chuquicamata Cu-Mo porphyry is among the largest
and richest deposits in the world (McMillan and Panteleyev,
1985; Cooke et al., 2005), with over 7.52 Gt of contained Cu
(produced plus resources) that corresponds to ~10% of the
Chilean resources (Singer, 1995; Camus, 2003; Singer et al.,
2008). It is located within a highly endowed metallogenic
belt, which extends from southern Peru to central Chile along
the western flank of the Andes Mountains (Maksaev, 1990;
Camus, 2003; Sillitoe and Perello, 2005). This belt has an
upper Eocene-Oligocene age (~31–45 Ma, bracketed within
the Incaic tectonic event of the Andean orogeny, Noble
et al., 1979; Cobbold et al., 2007) and includes Collahuasi,
Quebrada Blanca, El Abra, Radomiro Tomic, Chuquicamata,
Ministro Hales, and La Escondida giant deposits (Fig. 1).
†E-mail:jskarmeta@gmail.com
*Present address: Skarmeta Geological Services SpA, Julia Bernstein 720-N,
La Reina, Santiago 7850000, Chile.
100 years. The pit is 6 km long, 4 km wide, and a little more
than 1 km deep. As the life of the pit is close to its end, pro-
duction will continue in an underground mine (currently
under construction) that will be developed with four levels
of block caving that will extend 800 m below the current pit
floor. As of 2019 block caving will gradually replace existing
open-pit production, with a production rate of 366,000 tons
(t) of fine Cu per year, reaching full production plans after an
estimated nine years.
The engineering and planning studies for the underground
Chuquicamata project required significant geologic infor-
mation—in particular, 3-D structural models of the major
internal structures. It also required databases with all exist-
ing analogue information acquired from tunnels, bench faces,
and drill holes in a uniform digital and georeferenced format,
including the results of a set of deep drill holes especially
undertaken for this purpose.
A structural study to meet the project needs was designed
and implemented in 2013 (R. Cuadros, unpub. data, 2013). As

ISSN 0361-0128; doi:10.5382/econgeo.4769; 28 p. 1 Submitted: March 19, 2019 / Accepted: May 11, 2020

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 2 JORGE SKARMETA

show that body-derived stress components affected the total

70° PERÚ 69° stress budget. These include stresses developed during intru-
sion (Vigneresse et al., 1999; Tibaldi, 2015) together with the
18°

BO
thermal and erosional stresses (Jaeger, 1964; Cathles, 1977)

LIV
Arica developed while the deposit was being uplifted, eroded, and
Arica-Parinacota

IA
Region
telescoped into a condensed structural level (cf. Sillitoe, 2010).
CH

► Geology
EN
TR

Tarapaca Region Geodynamic context

20° Mesozoic-Cenozoic growth of the Andes involved varied
Iquique
tectonic regimes that reflect contrasting levels of mechani-
Queb. Blanca cal coupling along the convergent plate boundary (Mpodozis
Collahuasi
and Ramos, 1990; Mpodozis and Cornejo, 2012; Chen et al.,
2019). In the late-middle Eocene to early Miocene, the cen-
tral Andes (15°–25°S) experienced a phase of flat-slab sub-
El Abra
duction (Gutscher et al., 2000; Kay and Mpodozis, 2001) that
22° Tocopilla
CHUQUICAMATA boosted coupling and shortening along the plate margin, con-
Calama temporaneous with neutral or extensional conditions in the
southern Andes (De Celles et al., 2015; Horton, 2018). 
CHILE

The Domeyko Cordillera has developed as the result of a

Antofagasta Region
ATACAMA SALT LAKE phase of increased shortening during the late Cretaceous-
Antofagasta Cenozoic Andean orogeny, a consequence of the interac-
tion of the ENE-oriented convergence and the geometry
CHILE

24° Escondida
A of the plate margin in the central Andes. The Incaic event
E NTIN (45–30 Ma) is believed to represent the ultimate cause of the
ARG generation of several localized, relatively narrow orogenic
Metallogenic Belts belts, such as the Domeyko Cordillera and the Eastern Cor-
PERU

Miocene
Upper Eocene -
lower Oligocene
26° Salvador
Paleocene -
Potrerillos
lower Eocene
Lower Cretaceous
Caldera
Copiapo
0 50 100Km
28° Atacama Region
70° 69°
Fig. 1. Location of Chuquicamata within the upper Eocene-lower Oligocene
(~40–30 Ma) metallogenetic belt. The map also shows belts of other ages that
have been recognized in the area (see Camus, 2003). Inset shows location of
study area within northern Chile and South America.
a by-product of this operation-oriented study, the major faults
were modeled and classified according to their degree of per-
meability and capacity to exert control on fluid flow. Based on
crosscutting relationships and mineral overprinting textures,
the vein populations and associated alterations were differ-
entiated in age, ordered into sequential stages, and plotted
within a spatial framework defined by the major faults. This
study concluded that the major faults had controlled vein and
alteration distribution and that the local stress orientations,
determined based on vein orientation, varied significantly
throughout the period of alteration (~34–31 Ma) and do not
readily reconcile with the pattern expected for a constant and
coaxial far-field stress at that time. In this paper it is proposed
that, given a likely constant tectonic (far-field) stress, the
observed local variations in stress orientation and magnitude
dillera in Bolivia (Maksaev and Zentilli, 1999; Arriagada et al.,
2008). At the plate scale, the Incaic event does not correlate
with any marked change in convergence vector but does cor-
relate with a marked slowing in convergence rate, which aver-
aged between ~10 and ~5 cm/yr (Pardo-Casas and Molnar,
1987; Somoza, 1998; Somoza and Ghidella, 2005; Sdrolias and
Muller, 2006). The geodynamic relationship between slowing
convergence, orogenic shortening, and increased east-west
compression along the South American margin (Silver et al.,
1998; Sdrolaris and Muller, 2006) is unclear, although por-
phyry ore formation seems to be intimately associated with
a high degree of intraplate coupling that can be explained by
orogenic shortening and slab shallowing (e.g., Mpodozis and
Cornejo, 2012).
Causal relationships between magmatism, fertility, and
tectonics have been suggested for porphyry copper emplace-
ment (Kay and Mpodozis, 2001; Camus, 2003; Mpodozis and
Cornejo, 2012), and the fertility of the Incaic event appears to
have progressively increased during its >10 m.y. life (Loucks,
2014). Specific studies at El Abra (50 km north of Chuquica-
mata; see Fig. 1; Rabbia et al., 2017) show that the magmatic
history abruptly changes at ~38.7 Ma from normal (nona-
dakite) to adakite-like arc geochemistry (cf. Castillo, 2012),
with a significant depletion in rare earth element contents
(Gutscher, 2002; Rabbia et al., 2017). The evolution from non-
adakite to adakite-like magmatism coincides in time with the
Incaic orogeny (Pilger, 1984; Pardo-Casas and Molnar, 1985;
Somoza, 1998; Somoza and Ghidella, 2012), which led to the
shortening and thickening of the arc’s crust, forcing lower
crustal magma chambers to evolve under higher pressure
conditions, and to a slowdown of magma ascent, an increase
in magma residence time, and a change in geochemical

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 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 3
fractionation processes (Kay et al., 1999; Richards, 2003; Rab-
bia et al., 2017).
District geologic setting
The Chuquicamata district hosts the Chuquicamata, Radomiro
Tomic, and Ministro Hales porphyry copper deposits and
numerous smaller prospects (cf. Rivera et al., 2009, 2012).
They are located in the late Eocene-early Oligocene (43–31
Ma) porphyry copper belt (>1,000 km long) that defines the
Domeyko Cordillera (Sillitoe and Perelló, 2005; see Fig. 1).
The Domeyko fault system (Boric et al., 1990; Dilles et al.,
1997) is a major feature that extends between 18°S and 31°S
and is 40 to 80 km wide. The Domeyko fault system is an
orogen-parallel, discontinuous, overlapping, and segmented
array of bivergent dipping fault strands that juxtapose Paleo-
zoic and Triassic basement blocks against younger folded and
thrust Jurassic units and Cretaceous clastic and volcanic rocks
(McClay et al., 2002; Amilibia et al., 2008; Tomlinson and
Blanco, 2008).
The West fissure as defined in Chuquicamata is an approx-
imately north-south strand of the Domeyko fault system
that locally divides the district into eastern and western
geologic domains, from El Abra at the north end to Cerro
Limon Verde (~100 km) in the south. The nature and defor-
mation history of this structure is disputed. Based on the
geologic correlation between the Fortuna and El Abra intru-
sive complexes (Dilles et al., 1997, 2011), some authors
have proposed a multiphase tectonic history of Late Cre-
taceous to Oligocene margin-normal contraction combined
with Eocene to mid-Oligocene margin-parallel dextral strike
slip, which controlled porphyry emplacement and miner-
alization (Boric et al., 1990; Maksaev and Zentilli, 1999),
followed by ~37 km of Oligocene-Miocene postmineraliza-
tion sinistral strike slip, as well as <1 km of late Miocene
to Pliocene dextral strike slip (Taylor, 1935; Perry, 1952;
Reutter et al., 1991, 1996; Scheuber and Reutter, 1992;
Lindsay et al., 1995; Tomlinson and Blanco, 1997; Tomlin-
son et al., 2001). Other authors (e.g., McClay et al., 2002;
Amilibia and Skarmeta, 2003; Amilibia et al., 2008) argue
that the match between the Fortuna Complex and El Abra
does not account for the ~2 km of vertical difference (and
consequent erosion) between both localities. Furthermore,
fission track determinations indicate that the Domeyko fault
system exhibits differential uplift with an alternate sense of
vergence along strike (McInnes et al., 1999; Olivares, 2001).
Instead, they suggest the Cu-bearing porphyry intrusions
focus along major, inverted, extensional faults in the outer-
arc extensional zones of their hanging-wall folds, developed
at the climax of the Incaic contraction (Noble et al., 1979;
Cobbold et al., 2007).
Western domain: Paleozoic schists of the Limón Verde
metamorphic complex crop out to the south of the western
domain (Tomlinson and Blanco, 2008; Fig. 2). A Paleozoic-
early Mesozoic volcano-sedimentary sequence of sedimentary
and dacitic to andesitic volcanic rocks and breccias (~303–
232 Ma by U-Pb in zircon; Camus, 2003), correlated with the
Collahuasi Group, is exposed near the Toqui cluster (Tom-
linson et al., 2001; Munizaga et al., 2008; Rivera et al., 2012;
Barra et al., 2013; Fig. 2). In the southern part of the west-
ern domain a marine sequence of Jurassic sedimentary rocks,
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equivalent to the Caracoles Group (Montaño, 1976), crops
out and unconformably overlies the Paleozoic basement and
the Paleozoic-Triassic Collahuasi Group. Overlying the Juras-
sic rocks are Lower Cretaceous continental sandstones of the
Cerritos Bayos, the volcano-sedimentary rocks of the Upper
Cretaceous Cerro Empexa, and the Eocene Icanche forma-
tions (Rivera et al., 2012). The Cerro Empexa Formation is
intruded by quartz diorite-monzonites of the Montecristo
Intrusive Complex (U-Pb zircon age of 62.7 ± 0.5 Ma; Camp-
bell et al., 2006).
Eastern domain: A series of late Paleozoic granitoids have
been grouped in the Cerros de Chuquicamata Plutonic Com-
plex (Fig. 2), which includes the Chuquicamata Hills diorite
(273–267 Ma; Tomlinson et al., 2001), Mina Sur granodio-
rite, and the Mesa granite (~305 ± 4 Ma, K-Ar, Marinovic
and Lahsen, 1984; U-Pb zircon age of 296.9 ± 2.1 Ma, Tom-
linson and Blanco, 2008; Barra et al., 2013).  In the eastern
domain, east of Chuquicamata, the late Paleozoic and Triassic
metasedimentary and volcanic rocks are intruded (Lindsay,
1998; Arnott, 2003; Tomlinson and Blanco, 2008; Rivera et al.,
2012) by the Triassic East granodiorite (229 ± 1 Ma, U-Pb in
zircon, Tomlinson et al., 2001) and by the Elena granodiorite
(233–227 Ma U-Pb zircon ages, Tomlinson et al., 2001; J.M.
Proffett and J.H. Dilles, unpub. report, 2007; Fig. 2).
Intrusive complexes: Eocene-Oligocene magmatism, occur-
ring in both domains, is represented by the Los Picos, For-
tuna, and Chuquicamata intrusive complexes (Figs. 2, 3).
The Los Picos Intrusive Complex, in the western domain, is
the oldest unit with U-Pb zircon geochronology ages in the
range of 43.1 to 41.8 Ma (Campbell et al., 2006; Barra et al.,
2013). Paleomagnetic results (Somoza et al., 2015) indicate
that this plutonic complex underwent clockwise tectonic rota-
tion before it was intruded by the Fortuna Intrusive Com-
plex (~39 Ma). The Los Picos Intrusive Complex intrudes the
Caracoles Group and Cerro Empexa and Icanche formations.
It is in turn cut by the Antena granodiorite (39.3 Ma, Dilles et
al., 1997; 38.8 Ma, Campbell et al., 2006; Fig. 2) and the volu-
metrically dominant Fiesta hornblende granodiorite (U-Pb
zircon ages of 37.6 Ma, Dilles et al., 1997; 39.4 and 38.2 Ma,
Campbell et al., 2006) that are intruded by the San Lorenzo
tonalite porphyries (38.2 Ma, Campbell et al., 2006). Based
on its hornblende barometry and mineral assemblage, Dilles
et al. (2011) suggest that the Fiesta unit solidified at ~700°C
at depths in the range of 4 to 7 km.
In the Chuquicamata open pit the Chuquicamata Intrusive
Complex is fault juxtaposed against the Fortuna Intru-
­sive Complex, which has been considered to be the unaltered
and uplifted root zone of the Chuquicamata porphyry (Sillitoe,
1973; Parada et al., 1987). However, Rivera et al. (2012), based
on Dilles et al. (1997, 2011), suggest the Fortuna Intrusive Com-
plex does not correspond to the upfaulted roots of Chuquica-
mata, but rather to the roots of a different porphyry system that
was transported south by large-scale, postmineralization move-
ment on the West fissure (Dilles et al., 1997; Tomlinson and
Blanco, 1997; McInnes et al., 1999; McClay et al., 2002). Paleo-
magnetic studies carried out in the Fortuna Intrusive Complex
led Astudillo et al. (2008) to suggest that in the absence of solid-
state deformation, the apparent but irregularly oriented coun-
terclockwise rotations of small blocks (>100°) could be related
to a West fissure damage zone (~200-m width).
 4 JORGE SKARMETA

E 500.000 E 510.000 E 520.000

Radomiro Tomic
mine

N 7.540.000 N 7.540.000

Chuquicamata
mine

Chuquicamata

N 7.530.000 N 7.530.000
Sur mine

Ministro Hales
mine
f issure

Toki cluster
West

N 7.520.000 N 7.520.000

Calama

0 2.5 5 Km

E 500.000 E 510.000 E 520.000

Cenozoic
Alluvial and colluvial unconsolidated deposits
(Neogene)
El Loa Group: limestones and siltstones
(late Miocene - Pliocene)
Calama Formation: gravels
(Eocene - Oligocene)
Chuquicamata Instrusive Complex (CIC):
includes the East, West and Banco
porphyries (35-34 Ma)
Fortuna Intrusive Complex (FIC):
includes Tetera, San Lorenzo, Fiesta and
Antena granodiorite porphyries (39-36 Ma)
Los Picos Intrusive Complex (LPIC):
Monzodiorites (44 - 41 Ma)
Icanche Formation: andesites, dacites, and
breccias (early - middle-Eocene)
Mesozoic
Montecristo Intrusive Complex:
(lower Paleocene)
Cerro Empexa Formation:
andesites, dacites, andesitic tuffs
(Upper Cretaceous)
Tolar Formation: continental sandstones
(Upper Cretaceous)
Cuesta de Montecristo sequence:
andesites, dacites and continental
sedimentary rocks (Lower Cretaceous)
Caracoles Group: marine limestones
and sandstones (Jurassic)
East Granodiorite (Triassic)
Elena Granodiorite (Triassic)
Paleozoic
Collahuasi Group: andesites, dacites,
sandstones (late Paleozoic -Triassic)
Cerros de Chuquicamata Plutonic Complex:
diorites and granodiorites (Permian)
Limon Verde Metamorphic Complex:
mica and amphibole schists (Paleozoic)
Waste Dump
City
Unconformity
Fault, indicates sense of movement
Reverse fault
Inferred fault

Fig. 2. Chuquicamata district geologic setting (simplified from Barra et al., 2013). The West fissure divides the area into a
western and an eastern domain.

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 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 5

Fortuna Intrusive Complex E4000

E3000

Pa
C2

niz
San Lorenzo N6000

W. F

o-
goza
porphyries

Po
Tetera Aplitic porphyry

issu

Zara

d
N

ero
Fiesta granodiorite N

re
B

s
E

a
S
B
E
N5000 N5000

re
W. Fissu

N4000 N4000
na

NN
ca
eri

500m
Am

Ar Chuquicamata
se Intrusive Complex
ni
co
Gravels
Brecciated
N3000 Qtz-Ser rock
Banco porphyry

West porphyry
East porphyry, dots
denote fine texture
Elena granodiorite

East granodiorite
lo
Faults and fault-veins
e zue E4000 Limestones
Denotes fault- vein zones P ort shales / sandstones
E3000
Fig. 3. Geologic map of Chuquicamata porphyry. The deposit is divided by a north-south postmineral structure (West fissure)
that juxtaposes the Fortuna Intrusive Complex and the Chuquicamata Intrusive Complex, which hosts the Chuquicamata
deposit. Rock types and major structures as exposed in the open pit in 1998 (simplified from Ossandon et al., 2001). True
north is 10° west of mine north. Faults in white, not mapped areas, were interpreted from rock mechanics data by Ossandon
et al. (2001). Abbreviations: EBN = Estanques Blancos North, EBS = Estanques Blancos South, Qtz = quartz, Ser = sericite.

Almost the entire Chuquicamata orebody is hosted by the
Chuquicamata Intrusive Complex (East, West, and Banco
porphyries; Fig. 3) in the eastern domain. Detailed descrip-
tions of these units have been reported by Ossandon et al.
(2001) and Camus (2003), with U-Pb zircon ages that range
from 34.5 to 33.1 Ma (Ballard et al., 2001; Campbell et al.,
2006). The Chuquicamata Intrusive Complex intrudes the
Late Triassic Elena granodiorite (Figs. 2, 3; Lindsay, 1998;
Arnott, 2003; Zentilli et al., 2018).
The Fortuna Intrusive Complex in the western domain and
the Chuquicamata Intrusive Complex in the eastern domain
have prominent foliations that support a syntectonic/plutonic

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 6 JORGE SKARMETA
emplacement (Reynolds et al., 1998; J. Dilles, unpub. report,
2008). Somoza et al. (2015) established that the Fortuna Intru-
sive Complex’s magnetic-tectonic foliations are parallel to the
magmatic fabrics and, therefore, were stress controlled during
emplacement and cooling. Ages of foliations show that the mag-
matic and high-temperature hydrothermal system extended
from ~36 to 33.5 Ma, while the sericite alteration and high-
sulfidation events have an age of ~32 Ma (Figs. 3, 4; Reynolds
et al., 1998; Ballard et al., 2001; J. Dilles, unpub. report, 2008).
The foliations are cut by hydrothermal tourmaline veins with a
gently plunging lineation (J. Dilles, unpub. report, 2008).
Thermochronology data shows that as a consequence of
uplift associated with the Incaic orogeny (Lamb and Davis,
2003) there was rapid cooling between 35 and 30 Ma (Mak-
saev, 1990; McInnes et al., 1999). These calculations yield
exhumation rates in the order of 200 m/m.y. (Maksaev and
Zentilli, 1999), which decrease to ~50 m/m.y. after 30 Ma. By
12 Ma, the Chuquicamata Intrusive Complex and contained
mineralized porphyry systems were exposed to surface oxidiz-
ing conditions (Maksaev and Zentilli, 1999). These conditions
persisted until precipitation drastically changed from >200
to <20 mm/yr (between 19 and 13 Ma; Rech et al., 2006),
broadly coinciding with ages determined from supergene
alunites (19–15 Ma; Sillitoe and McKee, 1996; Sillitoe et al.,
1996; Pinget et al., 2015) and U-Pb crystallization ages from
pseudomalachite bands that yield 18 ± 1.0 Ma (Kahou et al.,
2020, Fig. 4). This uplift generated Miocene synorogenic
gravels (i.e., El Loa Group; Blanco, 2008) into which copper
solutions sourced from Chuquicamata and Radomiro Tomic
deposited as exotic mineralization (Jarrel, 1944; Munchmeyer,
1996; Cuadra et al., 1997; Ossandon and Zentilli, 1997). Post-
mineral Miocene continental clastic sediments and younger
ash and ignimbrite intercalations are widely distributed across
the district (May et al., 2005; Fig. 2).
Hypogene Alteration-Mineralization
The Chuquicamata alteration-mineralization pattern com-
prises, from bottom to top, potassic, chlorite-sericite, seric-
ite, and advanced argillic zones (Meyer and Hemley, 1967;
Lowell and Guilbert, 1970; Seedorff et al., 2005), with two
overlapping and transitional stages between them (Faunes et
al., 2005; H1 and H3 in Fig. 4 and Table 1).
The overall magmatic-hydrothermal activity lasted approxi-
mately ~2 m.y. (Fig. 4). Whether the Chuquicamata hydro-
thermal mineralization developed in a continuous or in a
punctuated way is yet to be determined and beyond the scope
of this study. However, the hydrothermal alteration assem-
blages (Fig. 4; Table 1) indicate it developed in superimposed
increments, in a way similar to the protracted, but episodic,
magmatic histories described in many Andean, North Ameri-
can, and Philippine porphyry Cu districts (e.g., Cornejo et al.,
1997; Richards et al., 2001; Harris et al., 2004; Padilla-Garza
et al., 2004; Barra et al., 2005; Deckart et al., 2005; Sillitoe
and Mortensen, 2010; Simmons et al., 2013; Braxton et al.,
2018). Moreover, the alteration patterns of Chuquicamata
(e.g., Camus, 2003) are similar to those classically described
in other porphyry systems (Meyer and Hemley, 1967; Lowell
and Guilbert, 1970; Seedorff et al., 2005; Sillitoe, 2010) and
have been grossly correlated with fluid and thermal regimes
(Monecke et al., 2018; Tosdal and Dilles, 2020). These include
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a deep magma ± volatile zone at lithostatic, eventually supra-
lithostatic pressure, an overlying zone of transiently ascend-
ing magmatic-hydrothermal fluids at temperatures ~400° to
650°C, and an upper brittle zone at temperatures <400°C,
characterized by a hydrostatically pressured mix of magmatic
and nonmagmatic fluids (Tosdal and Dilles, 2020).
Chuquicamata exhibits a lateral distribution of alteration
assemblages (Table 1). From the West fissure to the east it
ranges from argillic spatially associated with enargite-sphaler-
ite veins to a massive quartz-sericite zone along the deposit’s
western edge, transitioning eastward to a zone of discontinu-
ous remnants of the potassic alteration that mix with chlo-
rite assemblages exposed along the eastern boundary of the
deposit (Alvarez and Flores, 1985; Ossandon et al., 2001;
Faunes et al., 2005; Fig. 4). These overlapping relationships
indicate superimposition of successive incremental pulses of
fluid introduction that characterize the different hydrother-
mal stages, simultaneous with overprinting of earlier material,
uplift, unroofing, erosion (cf. England and Molnar, 1990), and
increase of the sulfidation stage, interpreted to be the result of
a shallowing emplacement depth, cooling, and embrittlement
of the host rock (Figs. 4–6). 
The hypogene alteration has been separated into two major
stages, which decrease in age and correspond to the late
magmatic-potassic and the hydrothermal events, both with
internal subdivisions and characteristics (cf. Sillitoe, 2010;
Fig. 4; Table 1). The potassic alteration has been divided in
the early background potassic and propylitic (Fig. 4; Table 1).
Background potassic alteration developed between 34 and
33.4 Ma, is younger than the East porphyry host rock, and is
younger than the West and Banco porphyries that intrude the
East porphyry (Ossandón et al., 2001; Arnott, 2003; Arnott
and Zentilli, 2003; Faunes et al., 2005; Rivera et al., 2012; Fig.
4), and propylitic alteration is transitional and distal to the
potassic-altered rocks (Table 1). The hydrothermal activity
has been divided into early, main, and late stages (i.e., Ossan-
don et al., 2001; Camus, 2003; Faunes et al., 2005; Figs. 4,
6). The early hydrothermal corresponds to the intense potas-
sic sericite (±quartz) or phyllic alteration characterized by
the partial or complete destruction of the original rock tex-
tures (Fig. 4; Table 1). The main hydrothermal stage has been
divided into a principal (H2) and a late quartz-sericite (H4)
stage and their transitional stages (H1 and H3; Fig. 4; Table
1). The late-hydrothermal stage represents the last superim-
posed advance argillic alteration stage (Table 1) composed of
massive high-sulfidation veins. 
Detailed descriptions of the different alteration stages have
been documented by Ossandon et al. (2001), Faunes et al.
(2005), Cordova et al. (2010), and Rivera et al. (2009). Their
main characteristics are summarized in Table 1 and Figure 4.
States of Stress Driving Vein-Mineralization:
A Preamble
Veins and stockworks host 80 to 90% of the mineraliza-
tion and alteration present in Chuquicamata (Perry, 1952;
Ambrus, 1979; Soto, 1979; Lindsay, 1998). Stockwork and
sheeted extensional veins are spatially distributed near low-
displacement fault fractures (Fig. 3) and share a common
hydrothermal mineral infill that indicates synchronous struc-
tural development at the different alteration stages (Fig. 4).
 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 7

Cu % / Total sulf. content

Sulfidation and Qtz
Mineral

Temp °C range
stages/events
Rock Textures

fault behavior
Acidity state
Vein classificaon associaon,

Impervious
alteration

Colo r Codes

Depth Km
Major
Alteraon
Pyrite
Stage
Age and mineral relave
(Ma) assemblage abundance
and type

15
Supergenic Processes
19
Massive E veins, 0
High (HS > 5%) and Qtz

31,1

and Estanques
Americana
Advanced High intensity Qtz with illite-sericite

250 - 180

N and S.
Blancos
Py 80%;
argillic LH -alunite halos, Py
Late

< 0,2
and Sb, As sulfides Cu sul < 20%
alteraon -En in stockworks.
Py - En Tenn Tetr.
High

1
Pervasive QSP altera­on

Blancos N.
Americana
Late quartz D veins, with Py-Cpy

Estanques
sericite, H4 (late phyllic) 80%. Total

270 - 220
0,1 / 2%
in sutures and Py >> Cu sulf

and
Phyllic replacement of feldspars sericic halos
Total destruction

(QSP) and bio­te by sericite

Hydrothermal

Argillic Possibly
Transional H3 Qtz - Py Cpy Sph. Americana
(<20%) 2 and Zaragoza
Intermediate (1 - 3%)
Intermediate
Main

Coarse early green - C veins with green

principal sericite

550 - 500
> 0,5 / > 1%
Cpy > 80%;
Intermediate

gray sericite and Cpy Zaragoza,

H2 disseminated and in vein disseminated Cpy Py < 20% Panizo
halos; veins with and/or K Feldspar Bn absent and C2
central suture; peripheral
halos; central
to the Intense Potassic.
suture scarce.
Qtz-Mo Phyllic alteraon 3 Zaragoza,

~ 550
High Mo (01-02%)
32,9 Transional H1 B (“blue”) veins

< 0.6
Superimposed on EH Low Py and Panizo
Moderated to intense
Partial destr.

Irregular
Qtz appears

Intense replacement of feldspars and A veins 30%; distribu on Estanques

550 - 400
Early

1 / > 1%
Low

potassic EH bio­te by secondary K feldspar Blancos N.

Qtz - Mo
and green sericite. KSil 30%
Cpy, Bn Dg Cv Cpy
in cataclas­c banded veins Py absent.
Propylitic

0,2 - 0,5 /< 0.6%

Late magmac and potassic

Selecve ( 50%) alteraon 450 - 350

PR of mafic minerals; primary Clorite (secondary Dissemina on
Low (LS< 1%);Qtz absent

biote) and specular None

magnete altered to clorite Py > 50% > Cpy
hemate veins
Preserved

4
Disseminated biote; Mainly
and
Background

0,2 - 0,5 / < 1%

33,4 100% hornblende disseminaon

potassic

650 - 550

5 ?
altered to biote;
Absent

BK Early quartz - Cpy + Bn

magnete present; sulfide free
>50%;Cpy>Bn
6
33,5
West and Banco Porphyries
34,5
East Porphyry
Magmatic

36,2
Fortuna Complex alteraon
38,0
Precursor Fortuna Complex
39,5
Fig. 4. Time-alteration chart showing the eight major alteration stages (background potassic to late hydrothermal), alteration
descriptions, vein distribution and classification, mineral association, and estimated temperature ranges for each mineral
association (see text for details). Abbreviations: BK = background potassic, Bn = bornite, Cpy = chalcopyrite, Cv = covellite,
Dg = digenite, EH = early hydrothermal, En = enargite, H1-H4 = main hydrothermal stages, HS = high-sulfidation, KSil =
local name for moderate to intense replacement of feldspar and biotite by secondary K-feldspar (from Faunes et al., 2005),
LH = late hydrothermal, LS = low-sulfidation, PR = propylitic, Py = pyrite, QSP = quartz-sericite-phyllic, Qtz = quartz, Sph
= sphalerite, Sulf = sulfidation, SVG = gray-green sericite (from the Spanish sericita verde gris), Tenn = tennantite, Tetr. =
tetrahedrite.

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 8 JORGE SKARMETA

Table 1. Summary of Hypogene Alteration Characteristics Listed from Top to Bottom

(based on Ossandon et al., 2001; Faunes et al., 2005; Rivera et al., 2009; Cordova et al., 2010)

Stage Events Code Distribution Mineral and textural characteristics

Hydrothermal
Late Advanced argillic alteration LH Exposed between the West fissure and the The alteration assemblage is defined by the
  Americana fault; extends to the north up to   presence of kaolinite, montmorillonite, and  
  the Estanques Blancos Norte fault   sericite with traces of pyrophyllite and/or  
  (Figs. 3, 4, 6)   dickite locally with hypogene alunite  
  (Ossandon et al., 2001); clay species replace  
  feldspar and mica

Main Late quartz sericite, phyllic H4 Spatially distributed to the west of EH (Fig. 6) Aggregates of sericite, quartz, and pyrite (QSP)
  that obliterate the original textures and bleach  
  the rocks  
 
 
 
 
Transitional H3 Mainly exposed at the NE sector of the Quartz, sericite, pyrite, chlorite, and clay
  deposit (Fig. 6)   aggregates (kaolinite, illite-smectite) completely  
  obliterate lithological textures and replace  
  feldspars and biotite (Faunes et al., 2005)  
 
Intermediate principal sericite H2 Peripheral to EH (Fig. 6) Sericite and biotite in alteration halos
  (Faunes et al., 2005; Ossandon et al., 2001)  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Transitional H1 Present in the center of the deposit, The phyllic alteration overprints the BK and PR
  superimposed on the intense potassic event;   alteration; lithological textures are preserved,  
  coexists with the late hydrothermal stages   and plagioclase and K-feldspar are partially  
  (Figs. 4–6)   replaced; the bulk of the phyllic alteration  
  occurs in vein and veinlet selvages between  
  which the potassic alteration is preserved  
 
 

Early Intense potassic EH This alteration event is distributed along the Partial or total destruction of rock textures,
  central part of the deposit (Fig 6)   giving rise to a fine-grained gray rock, referred  
  to as Ksil; the Ksil comprises moderate to  
  intense replacement of feldspar and biotite by  
  secondary K-feldspar, in some instances  
  accompanied by secondary albite and quartz  
  (Faunes et al., 2005)  
 
 

Late magmatic and potassic

Propylitic PR Transitional and distal to the potassic alteration Selective alteration (~50%) of magmatic
  and peripheral to the background potassic,   amphiboles, biotite and magnetite to chlorite.  
  beyond the economic limits of the deposit   Distal epidote occurs at the deposit margins,  
  (Fig. 4); outer limit is defined by the   and the rock textures are well preserved  
  occurrence of unaltered hornblende  
 
Background potassic BK The patchy distribution suggests it corresponds Primary hornblende is altered to secondary
  to relicts of a widespread distributed alteration   biotite; feldspars are generally unaltered, and  
  that was subsequently obliterated (Ossandon   magnetite is destroyed or altered to fine-grained  
  et al., 2001, Lindsay, 1998; Figs. 4, 6); outer   hematite  
  limit is defined as where hornblende has not  
  been biotitized (cf. Seedorff et al., 2005)  
 
 

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 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 9

Table 1. (Cont.)

Stage Ore mineralogy and veins Equilibrium temperature estimations Age

Hydrothermal
Late Massive high-sulfidation E-type veins
  (Masterman et al., 2005; Maydagán et al.,
  2015), with pyrite-enargite-chalcopyrite-
  bornite-digenite and illite-sericite in
  the halos

Main D-type veins with pyrite (~50%) > Stable isotope studies indicate that the fluids Based on 40Ar/39Ar and Re-Os ages this event
  chalcopyrite; chalcopyrite is mostly in the   associated with the sericite alteration were   was assigned to the 32–31 Ma age range
  central veinlet and less abundant in the   a magmatic-meteoric mix (Arnott, 2003);   (Reynolds et al., 1998; Arnott, 2003; Barra
  sericite-quartz-chalcopyrite halos (Faunes   sulphur isotope (Lewis, 1996) and fluid   et al., 2013), 1 m.y. younger than the B-type
  et al., 2005; Sillitoe, 2010; Fig. 5)   inclusion studies (S. Collao, unpub. report,   veins, 2.5–3 m.y. younger than the BK event,
  1987; Vega, 1989) suggest temperatures in   and 3.5 m.y. younger than the crystallization
  the range of 210°–470°C   age of the East porphyry (Figs. 3–5)
Late pervasive quartz-sericite argillic Clay minerals present (rare dickite) and
  alteration characterized by abundant pyrite   absence of sericite and pyrophyllite restricts
  and Cu sulfides that superpose on, and   argillic alteration to temperatures below
  reutilize, earlier high-sulfidation pyrite veins   200°C (Meyer and Hemley, 1967; Arancibia
  and Clark, 1996; Sillitoe, 1993, 2010)
Irregular C-type veins and a pervasive Crosscutting relationships between quartz-
  dissemination of fine chalcopyrite with   molybdenite B-type veins and high-pyrite
  coarse-grained gray quartz sericite halos   D-type veins (Fig. 5) associated with the late
  (Fig. 6); veins contain varying proportions of   quartz-sericite events demonstrate their
  quartz, Cu-Fe sulfides, enargite, tennantite,   relative earlier age (Faunes et al., 2005)
  and sphalerite; where gray-green sericite
  content is >10% the total sulfide is >1%, and
  Cu grades are well above 1%, making this
  the principal hypogene mineralization event
  at Chuquicamata (Fig. 4)
Banded quartz blue veins (B-type, <1 cm) By analogy with fluid inclusion studies in Re-Os ages on molybdenite from B-type
  that crosscut early-stage quartz and quartz-   B-type veins from Butte, Montana (Rusk   veins range between 33 and 32 Ma
  K-feldspar A-type veins; they are in turn   et al., 2004, 2008) the temperature range   (Ossandon et al., 2001; Zentilli et al., 2015)
  cut by larger banded quartz B-type veins   varies from 500°–600°C, in agreement with
  (0.5–1 m) with abundant molybdenite   the ~550°C estimated by Seedorff et al.
  (Lindsay et al., 1995; Fig. 5); corresponds   (2005)
  to the principal Mo deposition at
  Chuquicamata (Arnott, 2003; Fig. 4)

Early Early-stage quartz-K-feldspar A-type veins

  and pervasive quartz-K-feldspar alteration
  (Faunes et al., 2005; Fig. 4); primary por-
  phyry feldspars and biotite are completely
  replaced by K-feldspar and an aggregate of
  quartz and sericite associated with very fine
  grained disseminations of bornite ± digenite
  ± covellite, or chalcopyrite ± covellite +
  bornite ± digenite (Faunes et al., 2005)

Late magmatic and potassic

Primarily composed of chlorite veins The formation temperature decreases from
  (Ossandon et al., 2001; Faunes et al., 2005)   the potassic alteration down to ranges of
  and fracture surfaces with chlorite-magnetite-   350°–450°C (Titley, 1993; Reed, 1999,
  sericite; copper is disseminated, with pyrite >   see Fig. 4)
  chalcopyrite, and the total sulfide content is
  less than 0.6% by volume
Biotite may be finely disseminated or Sulfide phase equilibria (Lewis, 1996) and O Age determinations range between 34.0 and
  concentrated as irregular (<0.5 mm)   stable isotope analyses allowed Arnott and   33.4 Ma (Ar/Ar in biotite and K-feldspar;
  discontinuous veinlets (EB-type veins of   Zentilli (2003) to suggest that the potassic   Reynolds et al., 1998; Arnott, 2003);
  Gustafson and Quiroga, 1995), or as halos   alteration was in equilibrium with magmatic   Ossandon et al. (2001) and Lindsay (1998)
  along K-feldspar ± quartz (1 cm) veinlets   fluids at ~535°C, close to the temperature   conclude it is related to all three porphyries
  (M-type veins of Arancibia and Clark, 1996);   range (550°–650°C) commonly assigned to   (Fig. 3), although Arnott and Zentilli (2003)
  pyrite is usually absent or rare (Faunes et al.,   this mineral assemblage (Beane, 1974;   considered it is only related to the East
  2005; Cordova et al., 2010; Rivera et al., 2012)   Titley, 1993; Seedorf et al., 2005)   porphyry

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 10 JORGE SKARMETA
The stress states associated with the vein development varied
throughout the alteration cycle, as shown by the crosscutting
chronology of the veinlet sequence (Figs. 5, 6). Vein orien-
tations show high variability between the different alteration
stages. These variations imply that the stresses at any one point
in time of Chuquicamata development are the product of a
complex combination resulting from the addition and subtrac-
tion of local stresses that encompassed its geologic evolution.
Extensional veins and hydraulic fracture development
Sheeted extension veins that developed by overpressurized
fluids in brittle rock during hydrothermal alteration (propy-
litic to late hydrothermal; Figs. 4, 6; Table 1) are dependent
upon the relationship of differential stress (s1 – s3) to rock ten-
sile strength, To (effectively, a measure of rock competence;
Secor, 1965; Phillips, 1972; Engelder, 1987, 1994), which in
volcanic and crystalline rocks is in the range of 10 to 30 MPa
(Birch, 1966; Lockner, 1995).
Within intact rock, the formation of extensional vein arrays
occurs when (s1 – s3) < 4To, constraining the magnitude of
differential stress during their formation (Etheridge, 1983).
Extension vein formation is favored by high tensile strength
and low differential stress (Secor, 1965; Sibson, 1985, 2001).
In contrast, the development of shear fractures containing the
s2 axis is more likely to develop in low-tensile-strength rock
or where the differential stress is higher than 4To. Hence,
the differential stress and the degree of overpressuring
becomes inversely interdependent, as high fluid overpres-
sures are incompatible with high differential stress and vice
versa (Etheridge, 1983). Mineralized veins (Fig. 4; Table 1)
develop at extensional and extensional-shear stress levels,
typically of small displacement and high dilation (Cox, 1999,
2010, 2020). The extension-shear or hybrid type of fractures
develops in low-differential stress regimes, within the 4To ≤
(s1 – s3) < 5.6To range (Secor, 1965; Sibson, 2017). This occurs
either as extension veins with oblique-to-wall fibers, in which
shearing is accommodated inside the vein itself, or by pure
extension veins with normal-to-the wall fibers that become
BK-PR; M; EB
H4; D
LH; E 31-32 Ma
Quartz-sericite
halo
K-feldspar H1; B
halo 32-33 Ma
EH; A
H2; C
Fig. 5. Schematic crosscutting chronology of veinlet sequences at Chuqui-
camata. Veinlet nomenclature follows Gustafson and Hunt (1975; A, B, and
D types), Arancibia and Clark (1996; M and EB type), Dilles and Enaudi,
(1992; C type), and Masterman et al. (2005) and Maydagán et al. (2015; E
type). Association with alteration stages are color coded as in Figures 4 and 6.
Modified from Sillitoe (2010).
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accommodated by oblique low-displacement shear fractures
(e.g., Hill-type structures; Hill, 1977; Sibson, 2001), all with a
common hydrothermal mineral infill.
Mineralized veins and primary fracture permeability mesh
development (ground preparation; Sibson, 2000, 2001) in the
overlying wall rock can be related to the mechanics of por-
phyry intrusion and pressure-driven roof extension (Gruen et
al., 2010; Tosdal and Richards, 2001; Tosdal and Dilles, 2020).
Magma intrusion may enhance cracking and rock rupturing of
the cupola, overpressured hydrothermal and magmatic fluid
circulation (Gudmundsson, 2011), heat and mass exchange
with the host rock, and rheological modifications that result
from heat and magma pressure increase (Gruen et al., 2010;
Tosdal and Dilles, 2020).
Reference and local stress fields
Reference states of stresses describe the stress changes through-
out the crust, assuming it is not affected by tectonic forces, and
to establish the tectonic stress it is necessary to determine the
extent of deviations from these reference models (McGarr and
Gay, 1978; Gough and Gough, 1987; Fossen, 2016).
Elastic state of stress: The elastic (or uniaxial) reference
state of stress is based on the boundary condition that no elon-
gation occurs in the horizontal directions, strain only occurs in
the vertical direction, and stresses comply with this condition.
During burial, uplift, and erosion, in contraction (s1 = sH) or
transpression (s2 = sV), the principal horizontal stresses (sH =
s1 ≥ sh = s2 or s3) are equal and increase as a function of the
vertical stress (sV) and can be approximated by the following
equation (Jaeger and Cook, 1979):
s         v
H = sh = —— ⋅ sV, (1)
                          1–v
where v is the Poisson’s ratio (~0.25), and, accordingly, the
horizontal stresses will become about a third of sV (McGarr,
1988; McGarr and Gay, 1978). Nevertheless, data compiled
from the upper 2.5 km of the crust show that horizontal stress
becomes systematically larger than the vertical (Engelder,
1993; Sheorey, 1994; Hergert and Heidbach, 2011).
Regional (tectonic) stress fields: Tectonic stresses (st) cor-
respond to the stresses that cause a deviation from the ref-
erence state of stress, commonly related to plate boundary
tractions and plate tectonic movements. Although it is difficult
to estimate, the absolute magnitude of the tectonic stresses is
equivalent to the total maximum horizontal stress (sH) minus
all local stresses.
Current stress fields determined by in situ measurements
and active fault solutions show regional patterns with homo-
geneous and uniform orientations (Zoback et al., 1989; Zoback
and Magee, 1991; Zoback, 2010). It has been shown (Jaeger
and Cook, 1979) that the upper crust’s principal horizontal
stresses have an upper limit given by the preexisting critically
oriented faults that are at the edge of failure (McGarr, 2014;
Sibson, 2017) and by the crust’s frictional strength:
          s 1   sH
          s
–— [ ]
= —– = (m2 + 1)1/2 + m 2 ≤ 3
3   sV
or
sH ≤ 3 sV (2)
for m ~0.55, (where m is the dynamic coefficient of friction).
Present-day inversion of earthquake focal mechanisms yields
 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 11

Fig. 6. (a-h) Plan view of the distribution of alteration stages (propylitic-late hydrothermal) plotted over the very important fault (VIF) skeleton. Alteration stages abbrevi-
ated and color coded as in Figure 4.

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 12 JORGE SKARMETA

a sH/sV ratio that varies from 1.5 to 2.5 with consistent orien-
tation (cf. Cui et al., 2016; Soh et al., 2018).
Magmatic stresses: The propagation and plumbing of mag-
mas and the shape of the intrusions are essentially controlled
by buoyancy forces, crustal heterogeneities, and the orienta-
tion of the extant far-field stress (Gudmundsson, 2011). Buoy-
ancy is the result of the density contrasts between the magma
and hydrothermal fluids with respect to the country rocks.
If melt segregates to form veins, the maximum buoyancy
stress may evolve in two ways. In dike-controlled geometries,
a series of breccias and meshes of interconnected, steeply
dipping veins that crosscut across the wall rock will develop.
Conversely, diapir-type intrusions are likely to rise in shorten-
ing environments, generating disconnected veins (Weinberg,
1996). The shapes of the Chuquicamata porphyries are dif-
ficult to establish; however, in plan view they vary from dike-
like in the West and Banco to a diapir-type represented by the
East porphyry (Fig. 3). Calculating the real contribution of
magma stresses is limited by the lack of host rocks preserved
on top of the porphyries.
Studies from eroded igneous deep crustal volcanic edifices
(Tibaldi, 2015) show that the path of magma transport is gov-
erned by the existing ambient stresses and that dikes propa-
gate through fractures (Shaw, 1980; Spera, 1980; Petford,
1996; Weinberg, 1996). As in porphyry systems, the ambient
stress fields get modified during intrusion and consequent
uplift (Tibaldi, 2015; van Wyk de Vriers and van Wyk de Vri-
ers, 2018).
Thermal effect on horizontal stress: The effect of temper-
ature variations on horizontal stress by uplift, cooling, local
magma intrusion, and/or hydrothermal heating may tran-
siently distort the reference state of stress and significantly
modify the differential and deviatoric stresses. Intrusion
causes thermal stresses at different temperature and/or depth
(Rikitake, 1959; Jaeger, 1964; Cathles, 1977), where the over-
all temperature variation, after multiple heating/cooling epi-
sodes, is ± DT, and the corresponding thermal stress can be
obtained from
                       a⋅E
s = —— ⋅ DT, (3)
                    T   1–v
where E is Young’s modulus, a is the linear thermal expan-
sion coefficient, DT is the temperature change, and v is Pois-
son’s ratio. The depth-to-temperature ranges were assigned
from the alteration mineral equilibrium assemblages (see
Hypogene Alteration; Fig. 4; Table 1) and correlation with
data from similar systems (e.g., Titley, 1993; Sillitoe and
Hedenquist, 2003; Rusk et al., 2004; Heinrich, 2005; Master-
man et al., 2005; Seedorff et al., 2005; Richards, 2011). As a
Table 2. Summary of Dimensions, Orientation, and Sections Used for Construction of 3-D Fault Zone Models
consequence of uplift and cooling, the thermal effect will be
essentially extensional.
Stress variations during uplift and erosion: By consideration
of the thermal and elastic effects generated during exhuma-
tion (e.g., England and Molnar, 1990; Wilkinson and Kesler,
2007), the resulting stress history can be estimated (eq. 1, 3).
From a starting point at ~6 km (Seedorff et al., 2008; Proffett,
2009; Sillitoe, 2010), the horizontal stress at different depths
will correspond to
         1–2v       a⋅E
sH = sh = ——– ⋅ sV + —— ⋅ DT
          1–v        1–v
            Dz
[
= —— ⋅ (1 – 2v)r ⋅ g + a ⋅ E ⋅ DT ,
            1–v ] (4)
where Dz is the change in depth as a result of uplift and ero-
sion of the mineral system, r is the density of the host rock, g
is the acceleration due to gravity, and ± DT (heating or cool-
ing) is the temperature variation due to intrusion.
Structural Studies and Structure Classification
Methodology and databases
All geologic and structural data contained in hard copy maps
and mapping sheets available in 2013 from over 220,000 m of
bench face mapping and all underground tunnel maps were
compiled, digitized, and georeferenced in AutoCAD. All digi-
tized structures and their geologic and structural descriptions
were stored in a standardized Excel database, which allows
the use of specific software packages to interrogate the data
(e.g., Dips, Leapfrog, or Vulcan).
When the information extracted from the mapping sheets
allowed the classification of the vein mineralogical infill
(~60% of the data), the structural features were color coded
according to the different hypogene alteration stages (Fig.
4). All data entries specify the coordinates, source, spatial
attitude of faults and veins, surface attributes and morphol-
ogy, and alteration-mineral association parameters. A total of
506 hard copy drill hole folders that contained core descrip-
tions and photographs were revised for the identification and
selection of their intercepts with major very important faults,
from which 85 drill holes were selected for further structural
relogging. Based on the information from the relogged struc-
tural intercepts, 151 sections were drawn across six major
faults (very important faults; see below) for wire frame and
solid constructions and 3-D modeling (Table 2) and classified
in terms of their potential to influence underground mine
development.
The principal alteration stages recognized throughout the
mine (Lindsay, 1998; Ossandon et al., 2001; Faunes et al.,

Fault zone Sections N coordinates Extension (m) Trend Dip Thickness (m) Depth (km)

Americana 56 2250–5000 3,000 16° E 80º–85º W 35 1.6

NNW 15 3700–4400 700 15° W 85º–88º E 15 1.7
EBN 15 5050–5700 1,150 55° E 70º–75° SE 28 1.7
EBS 15 4200–4980 1,000 45° E 75º–85° W 18 1.6–1.7
Zaragosa 23 5100–6200 1,100 15° E 85º W 28 1.7
C2 24 4350–5500 800 18° W 85º–88º W 21 1.7

EBN and EBS are Estanques Blancos North and South; see Figures 3 and 10

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 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 13
2005; Cordova et al., 2010; Rivera et al., 2012; Table 1) were
arranged in a relative chronology on the basis of their cross-
cutting vein relationships, characteristic infill, and absolute
age, where available (Reynolds et al., 1998; Barra et al., 2013;
Figs. 5, 6).
The vein orientation and density analyses for all alteration
stages were assessed by subdivision of the whole mine area into
600 square (100 × 100 m) grids, each with an alphanumeric
nomenclature (A1-40 to O1-40). With the color-coded vein
orientation data from each grid, a total of 548 rose diagrams
were generated, per grid and per alteration event (propylitic
to late hydrothermal; Fig. 4; Table 1). In each rose diagram
the orientation of data was subject to the Terzaghi geometrical
correction (Terzaghi, 1965), a technique that modifies linear
and planar fracture samples with respect to directional bias
in order to establish a more precise orientation of the cor-
responding structure with respect to the rock slope direction
(see example in Fig. 7).
Structural classification and very important
fault characterization
The structural ore control in Chuquicamata is mostly in the
form of fault-vein hybrid-type structures, where major ore-
hosting faults are typically low-displacement features (e.g.,
Newhouse, 1940; McKinstry, 1948). They are dominated by
dilatational > wear-damage structures, genetically and spa-
tially associated with extensional veins and veinlet-hosted
stockworks that host 80 to 90% of the mineralization and
alteration (Ambrus, 1979; Soto, 1979; Lindsay, 1998). These
hybrid structures have traditionally been mapped and referred
to as very important faults and fault traces (Tables 2, 3). Very
important faults (I. Collado, unpub. report, 2006; R. Cuadros,
N grid cells. An example of a portion of the stage H3 trajectories
W E
S differ from those of the previous and following events, and
Without
correction
ch
N
Ben
W E
S
With correction
Fig. 7. Application of the Terzaghi correction to a rose diagram. The diagram
corresponds to an example of the structures before and after the correction.
This correction was done in all diagrams and consists of a geometric tech-
nique that modifies linear and planar samplings of fractures with respect to
directional bias, determining a more precise orientation of the structure with
respect to the rock slope direction (Terzaghi, 1965).
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unpub. report, 2013) are those that extend in pit exposures
in excess of three benches and exceed 0.5 m in width of the
complete fault zone (core + damage zone, see below). Fault
traces represent smaller structures, almost always spatially
associated with very important faults, that extend more than
one bench with have widths of less than 0.5 m.
Very important fault systems develop heterogeneous fault
cores, composed of slip surfaces, breccias, and extension
veins, and have a broader volume of distributed deformation
(damage zone; cf. Faulkner et al., 2010). The most signifi-
cant very important fault structures (Tables 2, 3) were clas-
sified following a modification of Caine et al. (1996), which
compares the percentage of the total width of the fault zone
(fault core materials) to the percentage of subsidiary damage
zone structures. The fault core and damage zone are distinct
structural units that reflect material properties, hydrological
behavior, and deformation conditions of the fault zone.
Stress trajectories throughout alteration
Based on the corrected rose diagrams (Fig. 7), the principal
horizontal stress orientations were determined for each alter-
ation stage in all of the 600 grid cells described above. The
main principal paleostress orientation was inferred as paral-
lel to the early extension fractures and/or as the bisecter of
the dihedral angle (±22°–32° centered on the s1 direction;
Angelier, 1994; Sibson, 2000; Fig. 8) of the conjugate shear-
extension fractures (hybrid) that succeed and overprint the
extension veins, as fluid pressure drops and the stress differ-
ence increases (Hubbert, 1951). Hence, small angles between
fracture sets indicate elevated fluid pressures (Secor, 1965;
Engelder, 1987).
The sH stress trajectories were established by connecting,
point by point, the orientation of the inferred direction in all
from the central part of the deposit is shown in Figure 9 and
the trajectories for all alteration stages in Figure 10.
The local horizontal principal stress trajectories (sH) estab-
lished for all alteration events (propylitic to late hydrothermal;
Fig. 10) are nonlinear and noncoaxial and display dissimilar
orientations through the successive events and within the dif-
ferent very important fault-bounded panels of the mine. They
in almost all cases the local sH trajectory does not coincide
with the approximately east-northeast constant orientation
of the tectonic far-field stress direction for the time of the
3
sh.fr sh.fr
e-s e-s
ext ext
e-s e-s
1
sh.fr sh.fr
Fig. 8. Expected orientation with respect to the principal stress axes of new-
formed shear (sh.fr), extensional shear (e-s), and extension fractures (ext).
From Sibson (2000).
 14
Table 3. Structural Classification and Very Important Fault Characterization (see Figs. 3, 10)

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Fault zone Structure Core Damage zone Breccia and vein textures Crosscutting relationships Permeability/barrier potential

Americana Heterogeneous; filled Multiple (>1 m) of dark-gray Nearby extension vein sets Breccias vary from jigsaw Veins crosscut the fault’s Bounds to the east the
  fractures in damage and   gouge containing quartz   formed by quartz-Mo dm-   puzzle textures and can vary   fabric and are locally cut by   advanced argillic alteration
  localized deformation zones   crystals, banded enargite,   thick breccias, cracks, and   from angular to subrounded   the fault; brecciated, early   (LH; Figs. 3, 4, 10); conduit
  and sphalerite veins   gouge, all semiparallel to   quartz-Mo fragments, in   quartz fragments float on a   for the quartz-Mo
  fault traces that transect and   some cases cut by later   hydrothermal matrix with
  crosscut quartz-Mo breccias   quartz-pyrite veins   fragments of quartz-
  molybdenite veins within
  late quartz-sericite breccias
  (Faunes et al., 2005)

NNW Heterogeneous structural Multiple (0.5–1 m thick), Formed by semiparallel Quartz-Mo veins distribute Overprints early potassic Alteration and mineralization
  fabric   with dark-gray gouge;   fault traces, veins, breccias,   parallel and adjacent to   related Cu-sulfide   are not limited by this fault
  fault veins and fault zones   and dm-thick gauge zones;   major structures   mineralization.   (Figs. 6, 10); conduit for
  mineralized with enargite-   closely associated with   quartz-Mo and enargite
  sphalerite ± pyrite and   extension veins   stages
  minor coarse-grained
 covellite-digenite

EBN Splits into multiple Core zone formed by single- Closely associated with Dilation breccias that Displaces the Chuquicamata Controls the distribution of
  mineralized strands, some   state breccia alignments   reciprocal crosscutting   display quartz-pyrite-Cu   Intrusive Complex by less   alteration and mineralization
  of them bending to become   relationships between fault   sulfide veins and sericite   than 100 m (see also   in early and late stages, as
  parallel to the Americana   segments and extension   alteration selvages, as   Lindsay et al., 1995;   reflected by the orientation
  fault zone (Perry, 1952;   vein sets, with common   well as later clay gouge   Rivera et al., 2012; Fig. 2);   and distribution of quartz-
  Lindsay et al., 1995)   alteration-mineral infill   reciprocal crosscutting   sericite and advanced argillic
  relationships with extension   alteration stages
  veins
JORGE SKARMETA

EBS Subsidiary parallel Branches of the system in the Closely associated with Breaching and cementation Extends outside the pit Bounds the distribution of
  structures exert control on   pit present quartz-pyrite-Cu   extension veins   histories with rebrecciated   where it makes minor   alteration and mineralization
  superficial geometry of the   and sericite alteration along   breccias and late stylolite   displacements (<50 m) on   in late quartz-sericite and
  Banco porphyry (Figs. 2, 3)   the margins, as well as later   textures   Mesozoic and Paleozoic   advanced argillic alteration
  clay gouge and chlorite-   units (Fig. 2); reciprocal   stages
  filled fractures     crosscutting relationships

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  with extension veins

Zaragoza Veins of this system were Wide damage zone with Impervious behavior at the
  historically mined   massive pyrite veins in the   principal sericite event
  upper benches that were   and most of the main
  superimposed over quartz-   hydrothermal stage; no
  Mo veins at lower benches   C-type veins have been
  recognized to the west of it
  (Figs. 3, 4, 10)

C2 Silicified along strike, Associated with Controls on the emplacement Impervious behavior at the
  associated with quartz   extension veins   of the Chuquicamata   principal sericite event
  veins   Intrusive Complex and the
  hypogene and supergene
  mineralization

EBN and EBS are Estanques Blancos North and South

 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 15
N relationships (e.g., Seedorff et al., 2005; Richards, 2011), fluid
100m
Fig. 9. Example of the determination of the principal horizontal stress tra-
jectories from the central part of the deposit in a gridded portion of the H3
veins. Based on Terzaghi corrected rose diagrams (Fig. 7).
Incaic deformation phase (~40–30 Ma; Pardo-Casas and Mol-
nar, 1987; Somoza, 1998; Somoza and Ghidella, 2005; Sdro-
lias and Muller, 2006; Chen et al., 2019; Figs. 10, 11). The
variable q angle that the principal horizontal stress trajectory
forms with segments of any particular fault will condition the
local shear and normal stress magnitudes (see Figs. 12, 13).
Substantial differences in stress orientation can be visualized
when the stress trajectories from all events are plotted one
on top of each other, as if they had occurred simultaneously
and not on superimposed stages, even if developed with time
hiatuses between them (Fig. 10h)—the exception being the
stage H1 trajectories that are relatively straight and contin-
uous, although not parallel to the extant (~33 Ma) far-field
stress direction (Figs. 10c, 11).
Distortions from a linear sH trajectory have been related to
local parameters, such as anisotropies (cf. Ojala et al., 1993;
Healy, 2009), overpressured faults (Jaeger and Cook, 1979),
damage-induced weakness in faults (Faulkner et al., 2006),
and variable depth- and temperature-dependent local compo-
nents of the total horizontal stress. The total horizontal stress
consists of the sum of all stress constituents, including far-field
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(tectonic), erosional, magmatic, and thermal (Fig. 10d-g). The
thermal stresses are dependent on the magma and/or hydro-
thermal fluid’s temperature (T) at the corresponding depth (z)
(Figs. 4, 10). Temperature and depth variables were assigned
from paragenetic temperature-pressure equilibrium phase
inclusion trapping temperatures determined at Chuquica-
mata (S. Collao, unpub. report, 1987; Vega, 1989; Lindsay,
1998; Arnott, 2003), and comparisons with equivalent well-
studied porphyry copper systems (cf. Titley, 1993; Rusk et al.,
2004; Masterman et al., 2005; Seedorff et al., 2005; Sillitoe,
2010; Monecke et al., 2018).
Resultant Stresses and Overpressure Zonation
During Alteration
Stress partitioning in time
At any depth and associated alteration stage (propylitic-late
hydrothermal; Fig. 4; Table 1) of porphyry emplacement,
the total horizontal stress, sTH, corresponds to the sum of the
partial stress components: elastic-uniaxial (sH) thermal (sT),
magmatic, erosional, and tectonic (st), equivalent to the sum
of equations (3) and (4), starting from the commonly accepted
~6 km from surface (Seedorff et al., 2008; Proffett, 2009; Sil-
litoe, 2010; Fig. 3):
sTH ≤ sH + sT + st
         Dz
[ ]
= —– ⋅ (1 – 2v)ρ ⋅ g + a ⋅ E ⋅ DT + 3 ⋅ sV. (5)
        1–v
The synthesis of the stress components (sH, sT, st, sHT; eq.
5) with depth (z) illustrates the role played by thermal and
elastic stresses during the evolution of the deposit (Fig. 12).
Repeated magmatism and fluid activity generate significant
heat energy that contributes to large stress variations (Fig.
13). Uplift and consequent erosion makes the overburden
load decrease, contributing to a reduction of the elastic-
related horizontal stress (eq. 1). Note that the overall trend
of the stress calculations remains unchanged when adapted
for different values of critical temperature, depth, and rock
parameters.
The resultant total horizontal stress varied during emplace-
ment, from positive (~400 MPa) at the magmatic and potassic
stages (~6 km), gradually decreasing to reduced, close-to-zero
stresses (Figs. 12, 13) at the main hydrothermal, neutral con-
traction-extension transition (i.e., 2–3.5 km), to finally becom-
ing extensional at shallow late-hydrothermal levels (<2 km),
where sV > sH.
Differential stress
The differential stress (s1 – s3) at every depth and tempera-
ture was estimated from the variations of the total horizontal
stress (sTH) and of the vertical stress (sV) through time. When
s1 = sTH and s3 = sV the tectonic regime will be compressive
(sH > sV), whereas when s1 = sV and s3 = sTH (sV > sH) will
be extensional (Figs. 12, 13). Note, however, that at the stress
changeover, a wrench state of stress (s2 = sV) will develop
transiently.
The calculated differential stresses involved in the forma-
tion of Chuquicamata progressed from a maxima, at the initial
 16

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JORGE SKARMETA

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Fig. 10. (a-h) Stress trajectories per alteration stage (propylitic-late hydrothermal) plotted over the very important fault skeleton. The sH stress orientation determined at
every particular grid was point-by-point traced along the area with sufficient data. See example in Figure 9. Figure 10h shows the differences in principal stress orientation
when the stress trajectories from all events are plotted one on top of the other, as if they had occurred simultaneously and not successively. Alteration stages abbreviated
and color coded as in Figure 4.
 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 17

late-magmatic, background potassic, and intense potassic

stages (background potassic to early hydrothermal), in which
sH > sV to a minima at the final late-hydrothermal stages, flip-
10 S
South ping from compression (sH > sV) to extension (sV > sH), at the
America main hydrothermal stage (H2-H4; Fig. 4) where differential
Plate stresses become neutral or near isotropic at the contraction-
Present extension stress inversion. This stage developes when sH ≈ sV
30 20 10
and coincides with stockwork formation, significant tempera-
40 Ma Nazca Plate
20 S
ture variations and with the largest volumes of copper added
50 to the system (Figs. 4, 12, 13). A late extensional stress devel-
60 Incaic Event opment (late hydrothermal) occurred in a relatively short
70 35 Ma 30 Ma period of time, between 32 and 31 Ma (Ballard et al., 2001;
Barra et al., 2013; Fig. 13). This late stress configuration favors
20 10
30 the development of new vertical extension hydrofractures
40 40 S
(Ridley, 1993) and normal fault reactivation, all associated
50 with decompression, gravitational collapses (e.g., Vanderhae-
59 Ma
60 ghe and Teyssier, 2001; Masterman et al., 2005; Maydagán et
90 W 70 W
al., 2015), and rising of hydrothermal fluids associated with
massive hydraulic discharges (Fournier, 1999), together with
Fig. 11. Reconstruction of plate convergence vectors for the Nazca plate, rel-
ative to South America, during the Cenozoic, representing the far-field stress
the formation of late veins and breccia bodies, such as those
orientation (redrawn from Pardo-Casas and Molnar, 1987, and Maksaev and associated with the Americana fault (Ossandon et al., 2001;
Zentilli, 1999). Faunes et al., 2005; Figs. 3, 14; Table 3).

LH H4 H3 H2 H1 EH PR BK
180-220 220-270 300 550-500 ~ 550 550-400 ~ 450 550-650 T° (C°)

Background
Propylitic
Intense
Qz - Mo
Principal
Argillic
QS
Advanced

500

400
Frictional faulting
300 limit
Total horizontal stress
Argillic

200
Stress (Mpa)

Vertical stress

100

0
Potassic
Sericite

Potassic

Elastic, posterosion
horizontal stress
-100 Differential stress

-200
Alteration

-300
Thermal stress
-400 Depth
(Km)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
31 33 33,5 Age (Ma)
Fig. 12. Representation of the partitioned stress components of Chuquicamata, plotted against time and depth (color codes
as in Fig. 4). Curves: dashed gray represents the maximum tectonic stress indicated by the upper crust’s limiting stress of
preexisting faults (st, eq. 3; from Jaeger and Cook, 1979); solid blue line shows the total horizontal stress (sTH, eq. 5); solid
red line represents the elastic or uniaxial stress (eq. 1), solid purple line represents the vertical stress (sV); solid green line is
the thermal stress (sT, eq. 4), and the solid yellow line represents the differential stress (s1 – s3). Abbreviations: QS = quartz-
sericite, Qz =quartz. Alteration stages abbreviated and color coded as in Figure 4.

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 18 JORGE SKARMETA

LH H4 H3 H2 H1 EH PR BK Magmatic and porphyry domains

New vertical fractures Low

differential
and
deviatoric
stress

Initial state
of stress

T0
Zone of stress reversal

Fig. 13. Mohr diagram constructed with stress data determined for Chuquicamata (Fig. 12). Differential stresses calculated
from maximum horizontal and vertical stresses at every alteration stage and depth (see Figs. 4, 12). The composite range of
failure for intact rock (gray area) indicated by solid black lines, and reshear condition for a cohesionless fault (dashed black
line) plotted on a shear stress, t, against effective normal stress, sn, field. Critical stress circles are shown for the seven altera-
tion stages indicated with the same color code as Figure 4. The red dashed lines separate the contractional from extensional
domains and cross at the point of stress reversal. Note that newly formed fractures will only develop when the stresses are
sufficient to intersect the intact rock envelope, principally at the extensional domain.

Stress orientation and vein mineralization
Vein sets are considered to develop at high angles to the
local least principal stress axis (Sibson, 2001); hence, the
vein rotation observed (Fig. 10) requires the least principal
stress orientation to change several times during the life of
the relatively short duration hydrothermal processes (~2 m.y.;
Table 1). The veins in Chuquicamata do not show orienta-
tions consistent with one single stress field, and they change
within and between the different paragenetic stages (Figs. 4,
10). This means that the local stress trajectories do not mimic
the orientation of the regional stress field—an assumption
commonly used to establish the main structural controls in
Chuquicamata (e.g., Reutter et al., 1991, 1996). The way in
which the orientation of the veins, controlled by the stress tra-
jectories, vary during the deposit’s timescale indicates that the
far-field tectonic stress is not the principal component of the
local stress budget.
Fault-vein relationships
Mutual crosscutting relationships between different veins
and very important faults suggest synchronous development,
as faults truncate veins and veins crosscut faults with a simi-
lar hydrothermal infill (Figs. 6, 10; Table 3). The close asso-
ciation between the Americana, NW, and Estanques Blancos
North and South fault segments with significant popula-
tions of nearby extension vein sets are indicative of hybrid-
type fault-vein dilatational meshes (cf. Hill, 1977). In the
H1 alteration stage the B-type veins cut across most of the
faults, whereas in subsequent H3 and H4 alteration stages the
veins are limited by the faults (Fig. 10c). Low-displacement
fractures developed in conjunction with high-dilation exten-
sion veins (cf. Newhouse, 1940; McKinstry, 1948) correspond
to hybrid structures (Sibson, 2000, 2001; Cox, 2010, 2020),
which develop in low or isotropic differential stress condi-
tions, where the two principal horizontal stresses may be
interchanged (i.e., Tosdal and Dilles, 2020).
The reciprocal, crosscutting relationships between faults
and veins provide insights into the fault’s hydraulic behavior at
the different stages of mineralization. The changes in the frac-
ture type, from hybrid faults to sheeted veins to stockworks,
reflect variations in differential stresses and fluid pressure
conditions and reveal the differences in the magnitude of the

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 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 19

H> V v V> H

V
Erosion and surface
Degradation V> Pf > H
Pf < H

Brittle

Ductile
H
H
H H
~ 6 Km
~ 3-4 Km
Ductile-brittle
transition
~ 400°C

H> Pf > V

Alteration
Quartz-Alunite
Intrusions Quartz-Prophylite
Postmineral Sericite
Synmineral Sericite - Clorite
Fluid - flow Magma
Premineral Potassic / Propylitic

Fig. 14. Schematic time slices of the telescoping process of Chuquicamata showing the evolution of the main magmatic,
fluid, and alteration-mineralization types during progressive magma cooling and paleosurface degradation. Left: syntectonic
high-temperature magma emplacement (>400°C; Fournier, 1991, 1999) that under contractional stresses generates sealing
carapaces that isolate the lower, lithostatically pressured ductile panel from an upper brittle hydrostatically pressured one.
At the contraction to extension, stress reversal (Figs. 12, 13) stresses become neutral, quasi isotropic, where fluid pressures
substantially increase, and multiple orientation stockworks develop. Right: As magma solidifies and the entire system cools
below ~400°C, the rock can fracture in a brittle fashion (Fournier, 1999); once the extension stress regime is established,
seal breaching can be attained by downward propagation of normal faults and extension fractures. Lithostatic pressure gives
way to hydrostatic pressure and erosion progressively degrades the paleosurface. Massive sulfide breccias crosscut previous
alteration stages. Based on Sillitoe (2010) and Fournier (1999).

local principal stress. Recementation of well-oriented fault
segments (Sheldon and Micklethwaite, 2007) can allow them
to reach an impermeable condition and therefore modify their
mechanical response to the applied local stress, in comparison
with nonrecemented segments. These contrasting hydraulic
behaviors can be related to at least two independent factors:
(1) the local orientation of the principal stress with respect to
the fault orientation (the angle q), visualized by the sH stress
trajectories (Fig 10), and (2) the variation in the magnitude
of the principal stress, visualized by means of the variation
in the differential stress (Fig. 12). The very important fault’s
reactivation capacity is therefore variable in space and time,
according to the local stress field and the local angle q, depen-
dent upon the stress trajectories (Figs. 10, 12, 13).
Permeability cyclicity
Hydrofracture permeability is created by episodic magmatic,
hydrothermal, and/or tectonic events (Guillou-Frottier and
Burov, 2003) and is destroyed by resealing by mineral infill
and vein formation (Sibson, 2001; Cox, 2020; Tosdal and
Dilles, 2020; Figs. 4, 10). The generation of veins and their
crosscutting relationships, in which the older vein sets are
crosscut by subsequent younger ones (Fig. 5), show that, in
Chuquicamata, permeability was transiently created and epi-
sodically destroyed by resealing through mineral precipitation.
Therefore, permeability development was a time-controlled
dynamic competition between permeability enhancement
and destruction, in which vein-forming processes led to the
recovery of the original cohesive strength of the rock mass.
Breached segments of the Americana fault with brecciated,
early quartz fragments floating in a hydrothermal cement with
fragments of quartz-molybdenite veins within late quartz-ser-
icite breccias (Table 3; Faunes et al., 2005) provide evidence
of breaching and cementation processes in which faults regain
cohesive strength enabling overpressure recuperation (cf.
Nguyen et al., 1998; Sibson, 2000, 2004; Cox, 2010). However,

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 20 JORGE SKARMETA
in fault-related breccia systems developed around misori-
ented fault strands, such as parts of the Estanques Blancos
North fault (Fig. 3), resealing leading to an impermeable con-
dition may make the rock become harder (reseal hardening;
Woodcock et al., 2007), favoring a subsequent mineral phase
to develop different core and damage zones in relatively
weaker intact rock (Table 3).
Vertical overpressure zonation
The presence of high-dilation extensional and extensional-
shear mineralized veins (Fig. 4; Table 1) and stockwork
networks along and adjacent to existing misoriented very
important faults (Table 3) without evidence of shear displace-
ment suggests the development of significant overpressure
and low differential stress (Etheridge, 1983; Cox, 1995, 2010,
2020). Overpressure can be sustained provided no throughgo-
ing favorably oriented faults occur, which, if present, would
be preferentially reactivated (Sibson, 1990, 2012; Cox et al.,
2001; Cox, 2005, 2010). The reactivation of severely misori-
ented faults under varying stress fields (Figs. 12, 13) provides
key evidence for predominantly fluid driven failure at low dif-
ferential stress in overpressured systems (Pf > sH; Cox, 2010).
The generation and maintenance of lithostatically overpres-
surized vein-fracture meshes (i.e., the main hydrothermal
events, H1 to H4 in Fig. 4), require a transient isolation from
the overlying, hydrostatically pressured, late-hydrothermal
extensional regime. This isolation can be attained by rheo-
logical seals caused by the development of igneous carapaces
at the ductile-brittle transition (Burnham, 1985; Fournier,
1999) or by relict bands of relatively more impermeable folia-
tions that may represent synemplacement fabrics related to
the intrusion of various phases of the Fortuna Intrusive Com-
plex and Chuquicamata Intrusive Complex (Lindsay, 1998;
Faunes et al., 2005; J. Dilles, unpub. report, 2008; Rivera et
al., 2012).
A schematic vertical section through the Chuquicamata
magmatic-hydrothermal system can be separated in three
broad structural levels with characteristic alteration, fluid
pressure, and stress distributions (Seedorff et al., 2008; Prof-
fett, 2009; Sillitoe, 2010). These correspond to (1) a high-
temperature (>500°C), deep (~6–~4 km), potassic alteration
developed in a contractional stress regime, (2) an overlying
overpressurized hydrothermal system, developed at interme-
diate temperatures (~375°–400°C) and depths (~1.5–4 km),
that is isolated from the uppermost rock column by temper-
ature-generated impervious seals (e.g., Fournier, 1999), and
(3) a late-hydrothermal, shallow depth (<1.5 km), hydrostati-
cally pressurized domain emplaced in an extensional stress
regime, where an unconfined column of fluids circulated
through the uppermost brittle cap rocks. At the end of the
process, progressive uplift and erosion cause all three levels
to become juxtaposed, at a vertically condensed, telescoped
structural level (Fig. 14), in which the deep potassic and the
KSil (see Table 1) are overprinted by the late-hydrothermal
high-sulfidation assemblages (Faunes et al., 2005).
The intermediate vein-fracture meshes and stockworks
indicate conditions of an overpressurized hydrothermal sys-
tem. Magma upwelling may pool fluids into shallower depths
below the impermeable rock cupola (cf. Cloos and Sapiie,
2013), generating anomalous fluid-pressure gradients that,
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under high strain rates and switching stress regimes (from
sV = s3 to sV = s1; Figs. 12, 13), will enable the downward
propagation of ruptures and shears to breach seals, inducing
multiple episodes of fault-valve discharge (Sibson, 2004; Cox,
1995) and drainage of overpressured hydrothermal fluids and
formation of late-hydrothermal breccia and mineralized frac-
tures (Fig. 14). The mechanism to trigger fault propagation
may be provided by an increase of the differential stress (after
cooling and erosion; see events H3 to late hydrothermal in
Figs. 12, 13) to an amount sufficient to allow normal reacti-
vation of favorably oriented fault segments, accompanied by
fault-fracture drainage, pressure drop, abundant quartz pre-
cipitation (Fournier, 1999; Rusk and Reed, 2002), and fluid
redistribution (Sibson, 2004). Note that the distribution of
alteration stages at Chuquicamata shows a slight northward
tilt as the lower-temperature H3 associations dominate in that
direction (Fig. 6), suggesting a down-to-the north displace-
ment along the northeast faults (e.g., Estanques Blancos
North and South; Fig. 6h) after or during the H4 and late-
hydrothermal events.
Discussion
Chuquicamata is a magmatic-hydrothermal system developed
at variable interrelationships between the local stresses and
hydrothermal fluids. Important controlling factors are stress
magnitudes and orientations, fluid overpressure, fracture
development and sealing, vein formation at succeeding pulses
of hydrothermal fluids of variable temperature, internal
fault paneling at different overpressures, and an active mag-
matic arc that was progressively uplifted and eroded during
mineralization.
Stress regimes and porphyry emplacement
Arc polyphase magmas and porphyry copper deposits
are linked to unusual regional-scale geodynamic settings
(Mpodozis and Cornejo, 2012) favorable for mineralization
(Sillitoe, 2010). They are short transient periods in geologic
time (Blundel, 2002; Sillitoe and Perrello, 2005) that imply
some fundamental physical processes (McCuaig and Hronsky,
2014).
There is a relative agreement that porphyries develop along
subduction or collisional contractional plate margins (Silli-
toe, 1973, 1997; Tosdal and Richards, 2001; Richards, 2003;
Mpodozis and Cornejo, 2012); however, it has also been pro-
posed they can occur in weak contractional to near-neutral
tectonic environments developed in response to bulk stress
changes (Corbett and Leach, 1998; Maksaev and Zentilli,
1999; Richards et al., 2001; Tosdal and Richards, 2001; Cooke
et al., 2005; Richards, 2009, 2013; Kloppenberg et al., 2010;
Bertrand et al., 2014; McCuaig and Hronsky, 2014). At the
deposit scale, neutral stresses may be locally and transiently
achieved by internal stress accommodations that result from
the variations of the partial stress components during the devel-
opment of the deposit, independent from the far-field stress
even when it remains unchanged. Porphyry copper deposits
are generally emplaced in contractional plate margins where
high-angle fault reactivation, tectonic inversion, and adakite-
like magmatism develop (Thieblemont et al., 1997; Gutscher
et al., 2000; Kay and Mpodozis, 2001; Oncken et al., 2006;
Loucks, 2014). The inversion of the severely misoriented
 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 21
high-angle faults (>60°–70°; Sibson, 1985), commonly associ-
ated with porphyry systems (McClay et al., 2002; Amilibia et
al., 2008), is fundamentally related to the high stress ratio and
fluid overpressures (Sibson, 1995; Haseguawa, 2017) required
to overcome the higher frictional constraints that result from
an intensification of the deep-seated slab-flattening tectonics
developing at the time (Mpodozis and Cornejo, 2012, and ref-
erences therein).
Stress fields
Heterogeneities that make the local stress field depart from
the far-field orientation at the camp scale have been pointed
out as controlling factors for deposit formation (e.g., Dubé et
al., 1989; Ojala et al., 1993; Faulkner et al., 2006). In Chuqui-
camata, the prevailing local principal horizontal stress orien-
tation, at the majority of the alteration stages, departs from
coaxiality and does not match the orientation of the far-field
stress (compare Figs. 10, 11) commonly accepted from plate
convergence vectors (cf. Pardo-Casas and Molnar, 1987;
Somoza, 1998; Somoza and Ghidella, 2005). Given the over-
whelming nonlinearity of the stress trajectories, the angle q
sustained between the maximum local horizontal stress and
fault segments will only be locally well oriented for optimal
reactivation (Sibson, 2017).
The close association and reciprocal crosscutting relation-
ships between fault segments with nearby extension vein sets
with common alteration-mineral infill (e.g., Americana, NW,
and Estanques Blancos North and South faults; Fig. 4; Table
3) are indicative of hybrid-type fault-vein dilatational meshes
(cf. Hill, 1977; Cox, 1995).
Very important faults and spatial distribution of alteration
The spatial distribution of the alteration associations (propy-
litic-late hydrothermal; Figs. 4, 6) within the very important
fault framework (Fig. 6h) indicates that major faults had dif-
ferent hydraulic behaviors throughout the hydrothermal his-
tory (cf. Byerlee, 1993). Whether a very important fault acted
as a localized distribution conduit, barrier, or a combination
of both will depend on the relative percentage of fault core
and damage zone structures (Caine et al., 1996; Faulkner et
al., 2006, 2010; Sheldon and Micklethwaite, 2007). Their rela-
tive proportions represent a finite stage of a time-dependent
incremental process, as the hydraulic behavior of faults was
subject to modifications over multiple strain and fluid flow
alteration-associated events. Such events may reduce perme-
ability within fault cores as they regain cohesive strength by
hydrothermal recementation (e.g., Barton et al., 1995; Sibson,
2000; Cox, 2005, 2010, 2020; Micklethwaite et al., 2010). The
relogged very important fault intercepts (Tables 2, 3) reflect
the degree to which the processes of strain localization versus
strain distribution compete as the fault zone and the altera-
tion are modified by ambient conditions (Couples and Lewis,
2007).
Vein orientation
Veins and mineralized fractures in porphyry Cu deposits show
substantial variations in orientation and structural style with
respect to their inferred depth of formation (e.g., Wilkinson
et al., 1982). Heidrick and Titley (1982) proposed that veins
have a vertical zonation related to shallow subvolcanic stocks,
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while Tosdal and Richards (2001) and Gruen et al. (2010) sug-
gest that veins and fractures result from the overlapping of
renewed magma intrusions and externally imposed tectonic
stresses. Tosdal and Dilles (2020) indicate that in porphyry
environments two vein orientations are commonly seen. The
principal one is generally formed by closely spaced sheeted
veins that correlate with the extant far-field stress orienta-
tion at the intrusion time. Subsidiary vein sets, which may be
orthogonal to the main system, develop radially or concen-
trically and reflect the localized effect of magma intrusion,
hydrofracturing, and host-rock dilation, setting an anisotropic
fabric that is subsequently used by later vein systems, hence
defining the principal vein direction at an early stage in por-
phyry development. However, most porphyries commonly
exhibit multiple vein sets that develop at different sequenced
paragenetic stages (cf. Gustafson and Hunt, 1975; Titley et al.,
1986; Titley, 1993; Stanley et al., 1995) in which the constant
angular relationships have been rotated. At Chuquicamata,
the vein orientations (Fig. 10) show high variability between
the different alteration stages, implying that the local prin-
cipal stress orientation varied significantly throughout the
life of the relatively short duration hydrothermal processes
(~2 m.y.; see Hypogene Alteration section, Table 1). The lack
of a hereditary behavior can be better visualized in Figure
10h, where all stage stress trajectories are plotted one on top
of each other and in which a preferential direction cannot be
recognized. Implicit in the argument is that vein formation
was followed by an effective fracture healing process, devel-
oped during and in between different alteration stages, when
rocks had effectively recovered their homogeneity.
Fluid pressure evolution
At the compressional state, overpressure is commonly cap-
tured and maintained in low differential stress small-scale
veins with a homogeneous fluid distribution throughout the
fracture network (e.g., Sanderson and Zhang, 1999; Figs. 12,
13). It has, however, been pointed out (e.g., Byerlee, 1993)
that preexisting very important fault-type sealed faults may
compartmentalize high-pressure fluids, making the fluid dis-
tribution relatively heterogeneous. The stress switching, from
horizontal compression to extension, favors fluid release (and
reduction of fluid pressure), commonly accompanied by the
development of vertical extension fractures (Sibson, 2004;
Van Noten et al., 2011, 2012), fault ruptures and seal breach-
ing (Fournier, 1991), overpressure homogenization, and
stress variations (Cox, 2010, 2020; Sibson, 2017). Late veins
and breccia bodies contained in the Americana fault system
(Ossandon et al., 2001; Faunes et al., 2005; Figs. 3, 14; Table
3) are associated with vertical extension fractures and massive
hydraulic discharge of hydrothermal fluids (Fournier, 1999;
Vanderhaeghe and Teyssier, 2001).
The evolution of the fluid pressure (Pf) can be visualized
by means of a brittle failure mode plot (BFM; Sibson, 1998,
2000) that defines the decrease of the differential stress with
increasing overpressure at different effective vertical stress,
s'V (where s'V = sV – Pf), during stress inversion. Maximum
sustainable overpressure is likely to develop at the low differ-
ential stress compression-extension transition (Sibson, 2004;
Van Noten et al., 2012). Conditions for the development and
maintenance of overpressures (Pf > sH) are those required to
 22 JORGE SKARMETA
generate new hydraulic fractures in intact rock (i.e., stock-
works) or for the dilation of existing multiple-orientated very
important faults, likely to form at small stress differences
(Jolly and Sanderson, 1995, 1997; Stephens et al., 2004) and
high stress R ratios (Delaney et al., 1986; Baer et al., 1994),
a relationship that incorporates the principal stresses, pore-
fluid factor (lv), and orientation of preexisting very important
fault anisotropies (Healy, 2012).
Permeability evolution
The repeated regeneration of fracture permeability becomes
a requisite to sustain the extreme high fluid fluxes associated
with porphyry formation. The cyclical incremental infill in
extension and extensional shear is commonly recorded in vein
textures that suggest that host fractures were locally gapping
at the time of hydrothermal deposition (Ramsay, 1980; Boul-
lier and Robert, 1992; Cox, 1995, 2005; Bons et al., 2012).
Quartz-Mo blue veins and late enargite veins from Chuquica-
mata (Lindsay, 1998) reveal multigenerational cyclical growth
histories that result from recurrent fluid pressure oscillations
and sequential variation of silica solubility in hydrothermal
fluids in the pressure and temperature ranges of porphyry-
related mineralization (i.e., Rusk and Reed, 2002; Rusk et
al., 2008; Monecke et al., 2018). Recurrent breaching and
cementation processes on fault segments, as brecciated, early
quartz fragments floating in a hydrothermal matrix, and frag-
ments of quartz-molybdenite veins within late quartz-sericite
breccias have been described in the Americana fault (Table 3;
Faunes et al., 2005).
As the rates of fluid pressurization generally exceed those
of tectonic loading (Micklethwaite and Cox, 2004, 2006; Ste-
phens et al., 2004; Tenthorey and Cox, 2006) and magma
supply rates (Tibaldi, 2015; van Wyk de Vriers and van Wyk
de Vriers, 2018), the recovery of cohesive strength devel-
ops on the timescale of rupture-recurrence (Cox, 2016) and
dike-driven intrusion rates (Petford, 1996). Heat conduc-
tion models developed at the Butte porphyry (Mercer et al.,
2015) show that vein formation and dike injection formed by
short-lived episodes of hydrofracturing in the range of tens of
years. The timescales for the formation and cooling of vari-
ous generations of hydrothermal quartz veins range from tens
to tens of thousands of years, which in geologic times can be
regarded as effectively instantaneous. This is supported by
microstructural and experimental evidence in which high-
permeability microcracks heal at geologically short timescales
(Brantley et al., 1990; Morrow et al., 2001; Zhang et al., 2001;
Tenthorey et al., 2003). Modern examples of vein arrays and
associated fault rocks from fluid-active high-temperature self-
sealing regimes develop in timescales equivalent to those of
the driving structural process (Blanpied et al., 1992; Lowell et
al., 1993; Hickman et al., 1995; Olsen et al., 1998; Cox 1999,
2005, 2010, 2020). Analogue modeling and measurements in
volcanic-geothermal upflow vents along fracture zones dem-
onstrate that sealing by quartz precipitation at high tempera-
tures occurs on timescales of decades (cf. Moore et al., 1994).
Summary and Conclusions
The Cu mineralization at Chuquicamata, as in many other
giant porphyry deposits, is the result of time and spatial coin-
cidences and interactions of several external tectonic and
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internal geologic processes. The tectonic evolution of the
continental margin during the Incaic phase of deformation
is ultimately associated with a high degree of coupling and
consequent orogenic shortening, adakite-like magmatism
linked with a flat-slab subduction regime (e.g., Mpodozis and
Cornejo, 2012). The shortening of the margin results in a
thickened arc, highly pressurized lower crust magma cham-
bers, and magma with increased residence time that contrib-
utes to extreme geochemical fractionation. The far-field stress
at the porphyry emplacement time had a constant approxi-
mately east-northeast linear orientation (Fig. 11), which
contrasts with the observed internal stress directions at the
deposit scale (Fig. 10). Therefore, nontectonic stresses need
to be considered to explain the stress trajectory variations
throughout the alteration history. Consequently, stresses must
be linked with depth and time-related variables, such as over-
burden weight and temperature-related stress.
A composed section through Chuquicamata shows that
the stresses progressed from a deep initial, lithostatically
pressurized contraction into a late, shallower hydrostatically
pressurized extension regime (Figs. 12–14). The contraction-
extension transition postdates the early high-temperature
A and B quartz veins. It coincides with the most significant
mineralization influx at an overpressurized, quasi isotropic
differential stress regime that is isolated from the uppermost
rock column by impervious seals. The stress-fluid conditions
throughout the development of the porphyry provide bound-
ary conditions for fracturing, veining, and mineralized or bar-
ren fault development.
Heat energy released by repeated intrusions and elastic
stresses developed during uplift and erosion drive continu-
ous bulk stress readjustments and stress-fluid interactions.
The combined factors may trigger local fault reactivation,
breaching of self-sealed zones, damage zone modification,
brecciation, permeability increase/decrease, and discharge
and focusing of hydrothermal fluids. The overall local stress
deviations from the far-field orientation (Figs. 10, 11) indicate
that the approach of constant stress magnitude or orientation
versus dilatational space, frequently utilized for predicting ore
deposit geometry and emplacement, does not apply to camp-
scale porphyry systems governed by time-fluctuating stresses
(Fig. 10).
Acknowledgments
This work was developed while I worked in the Corporate
Exploration Group of Codelco. The founding of the work
was provided by the Corporate Exploration Group and by
the Geology Super-Intendancy of Chuquicamata. Both are
acknowledged for the support and permission to publish the
results of the study.
Very insightful and helpful criticism to this manuscript,
which significantly improved its content, clarity, and pre-
sentation, was provided by Greg Corbett, Roberto Freraut,
Jon Hronsky, Carlos Huete, Darryl Lindsay, Victor Maksaev,
Ken McClay, Rodrigo Morel, Constantino Mpodozis, Carlos
Munchmeyer, Bob Pankhurst, Jose Piquer, and Juan Carlos
Toro. Robert Monypenny is thanked for an exhaustive revi-
sion of the English. Dick Tosdal and an anonymous reviewer
are thanked for valuable suggestions that helped to organize
and clarify the presentation. Thorough manuscript reviews
 STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, CHUQUICAMATA DEPOSIT, CHILE 23
and helpful suggestions by Associate Editor Shaun Barker
are much appreciated. Special thanks go to Hector Barbage-
lata, who diligently, and with utmost patience, drafted and
redrafted most of the figures included in the text.
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 28 JORGE SKARMETA

Jorge Skarmeta gained a geologist degree at

the University of Chile and Ph.D., M.Sc., and
DIC degrees from the University of London. He
has worked for the Chile Geological Survey, the
National Oil Company (ENAP), and Codelco.
Large parts of his career have been devoted to
structural exploration and mappings in the Andes of
Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, the Cantabrian, Pyrenees, and Rocky Mountains,
the Basin Range (Mexico), and the Brazilian Shield. He has led programs for
the development of 3-D structural models of the large Chilean porphyry cop-
per deposits, development of geographic information and probabilistic area/
target selection systems, and studies of fractured hydrocarbon reservoirs. He
has given talks and courses and currently consults on structural controls of
mineralization and structural models of mineral deposits.

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